like being on top of the world
by cigarettes 'n' sidewalks
Summary: or, the best day of cat valentine's life.


the best day of her life is a wednesday in her freshmen year.

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for as long as she can remember, cat valentine has been obsessed with the hollywood sign. really, truly obsessed. she can see it from the window in her bedroom, and falls asleep every single night thinking about it, dreaming of climbing the 'o' and watching the city from way up there.

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"_i've always wanted to sit inside the 'o'. it'd be like being on top of the world!" _

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beck's the one to say they should do it. jade says no- or she says 'that's the stupidest fucking idea i've ever heard,' but cat's long since learned to ignore jade when she's mean, because jade's her best friend in the entire world and always has been since they were little third graders, and she knows she loves her, even though she's not always nice.

beck talks her into it eventually, just like he always does. beck can make jade do anything- smile, laugh, not kick someone in the face for getting in her way, even climb a mountain to sit on a big sign. cat loves him for that.

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they don't make too much of a plan. or, she and beck don't. jade plans, makes sure that nothing is going to go horribly wrong and get them all killed, because that's what jade _does. _she takes care of things and keeps cat safe even when she's annoying, and comes up with the _best_ plans. jade's kind of her hero.

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she convinces jade to come and spend the night, even though jade doesn't like families or other people's houses, especially not cat's family or house. her mother tells them about her latest herbal cleanse in her distant spaced out way, and her father sighs behind his work papers and tells her to talk less because he's busy and can't she see that he doesn't have _time_ for her and her little friends right now, and cat tells them that they're going on an adventure and donnie tears off bits of the tablecloth with his teeth, swallowing before cat's mother can stop him and no one cares about her adventure.

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beck picks them up at midnight and he's almost a god in cat's eyes because he can drive, even though he doesn't have a license and had to steal his dad's truck and barely knows how to work the gearshift. they pile in, cat snuggled on jade's lap because the pickup is tinytinytiny and jade says she has a bony ass and beck ruffles her hair and lets her be the deejay on the half hour drive and this is already her favorite night ever.

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beck helps them climb over the tallsharpscary fence, and jade reminds them that they're going to get arrested and this is so _stupid_. but she's nearly smiling and lets cat hold her hand and pull her toward the sign without too much complaint, anyway.

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they _(whoever they are, the mean jerks who own the sign-the parks department, jade says)_ really don't want you to do this. they spend the better part of an hour hiking toward the sign, ducking around the beam of a spotlight. jade grumbles her annoyance every time she trips over something on the ground. beck shines his phone at the ground to avoid anything dangerous. cat skips happily over the rough terrain, stumbling into beck more than a few times, never doubting that he'll catch her.

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it's even better than she imagined.

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they sit inside the 'o' with beck's arms around both of their shoulders. cat grabs jade's hand behind beck's back and for a few moments, the whole world is deadsilentquiet and sosopretty. he says it's beautiful, and she agrees. jade rolls her eyes and rests her head on beck's shoulder and lets cat twine their fingers together.

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police sirens and a too-loud voice wake them from their perfect moment.

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jade tells officer david vega to keep his damn pants on while cat giggles and takes a quick picture on her phone so they can remember this foreverandeverandever and beck snorts and tells his girlfriend not to piss off the police officers.

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riding in the patrol car is fun, even though officer vega won't let her play with the lights. he's not very nice.

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they sit in a holding cell for three hours before anyone can get in touch with 'their mom'.

_(jade claimed they were adoptive siblings and they bought it like everyone buys jade's easy lies and cat's sososo glad jade's her best friend and not someone else because no one else would do this with her-going on an adventure and getting arrested and lying for her. she loves beck and jade more intensely right now than she's ever loved anything else) _

she can't stop laughing and they make her take a breathalyzer test and walk in a straight line and stand on one leg and stare at things and then beck starts cracking up and even jade smirks a little and the officers just give up and let them laugh until cat's mother shows up and pays their fine and sighs, _justbenormal_please_cat_ face firmly in place, just like always.

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they go back to her house and she convinces her mother to let beck stay because it's late and his truck is parked a longlong way away.

they make a nest of blankets on her living room floor and whisper goodnight. beck kisses jade and tells her he loves her and cat thinks for the millionth time how perfect they are and how happy she is that they have each other. she's not jealous- they are jadeandbeck, and they're soulmates, two pieces of a puzzle, meant for each other. someday, she'll find some to be catand with. she knows that. beck hugs her and kisses her head. they all fall asleep, limbs entwined.

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her mother lets them sleep, and when they wake up it's nearly noon.

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they spend the rest of the day ordering takeout and watching lame daytime tv in her living room.

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she keeps picture of the three of them on the sign tucked into the corner of her mirror for the rest of her life.

* * *

><p><em>AN- _i don't even know what this is. i love cat though. she's adorable and so very aww worthy.


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